Page 3 of August

“Hi, August, what can I get you today?”

He ordered the sandwich of the day, a ham and cheese sub loaded with veggies. “Fries or chips?” she asked.

“Chips, please.”

“You’re good to go. Someone will bring it out to you when it’s ready.”

“Thanks.”

He walked to the glass front fridge and picked up a vanilla cream soda, then found Nathan at one of the tables.

“Thinking about that jackal?” Nathan asked.

“Yeah. Imagine your family trying to kill you? Like I can’t even imagine if someone in my mom’s band wanted to take me out. Holy crap.”

“Same,” Nathan said. “She must feel really alone.”

August’s gorilla let out another hoot in his head. Damn, what was up with him today?

“At least she’s safe now,” he said.

The park was definitely a safe place. Over the years, many had come against them and failed, from Joss’s exiled brother who tried to kill him during his mating ceremony, to just recently when a wolf pack infiltrated the park and tried to take over. Their people always prevailed, always kept their own safe. It’s what made the park so awesome.

Lucius sat down. “I need a date like yesterday.”

“For anything in particular?” August asked.

“Just in general. And I need a good cup of coffee.”

“Are those mutual?” he asked, amused.

“Well, if we opened a coffee cart topside, we could hire some cuties to work behind the counter and maybe one of them would be my soulmate.”

August chuckled. “A coffee cart is a great idea, but no way would the alphas let a human work here unless she was already mated to one of our people.”

“They let Mercer’s mate work here,” he pointed out.

Their trays were placed on the table by one of the bears. August lifted one half of the overloaded sub and before he took a bite, he said, “That’s also a good point. They might have let Mercer’s mate Rhomi work here, but she also got a front-row seat to our people shifting when she shouldn’t have. I think they won’t let that happen again.”

“Damn,” Lucius said. “You’re harshing my dream.”

“Sorry,” August said. “Trust me, I definitely want to find my soulmate. I think that’s why my gorilla has been acting up. He’s ready too.”

“My lion is definitely ready,” Lucius said.

“My gorilla is too,” Nathan said. “The question is, where the hell do we find our soulmates?”

That was the million-dollar question.

When you couldn’t tell a female the truth of shifters until the mating was secure, it left their people little options when it came to romance. There was no dating until the couple fell in love, there were arranged matings, which weren’t done all that often anymore and never within the groups of the park, and there was waiting for soulmates.

He and his friends were all waiting.

He took a bite of the sub and shushed his gorilla.

We’ll find her when the time is right, be patient.

Hoot.

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